


Twenty Six

by timeladyleo



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Drabble, MJN March, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-30 13:26:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeladyleo/pseuds/timeladyleo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the MJN March prompt 'the phonetic alphabet'. A drabble for each of the letters of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alpha

It had been a struggle to get Gerti, and it had been even harder to make her into an airline, but Carolyn remembered with vivid clarity the moment she’d stepped onto the plane for their first trip as stewardess, and CEO.

It was pleasing to say - Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, CEO. Never mind that people seemed surprised to find that out, and that some people seemed to look down on her for it. She was proud of it, and even on the edge of financial disaster she enjoyed being in charge of the pilots and knew they’d be there to the end.


	2. Bravo

There was a moment of stunned silence. “Bravo, Arthur. That’s actually very good.” Douglas said with the faintest proud smile. Arthur too took a moment to realise what had actually happened.

“You mean I’ve won? Really?” A smile spread across his face as Douglas nodded slightly. “Brilliant!”

“Well done, Arthur” said Martin dejected that even Arthur could win before him. Arthur smiled gently at him.

“Don’t worry Skip, it’s your turn to win next!” Douglas chuckled until he realised that Arthur was right because Martin was picking the next game, much to Martin’s delight as an idea of revenge formed.


	3. Charlie

Arthur was always attached to his teddies as a child, naming each one and giving them all little lives in his head so he could play with them. He spent hours at a time pretending that they were all in different places - in space, on the moon, in a plane, out at sea. Even after he’d gotten older he kept them all, though many migrated to the cupboard.

But Charlie the monkey always stayed on his bookshelf, keeping watch over his room, propping up the books at the end of the shelf and smiling at the poster of the moon.


	4. Delta

“Look, they’re about to go into delta formation!” Martin beamed up at the sky as the planes darted around, before coming together to form the well known V shape. They’d stopped by an air show where the Thunderbirds were flying - Martin had begged them to. Douglas had obliged because he knew exactly how excited Martin would be to see them fly.

As predicted, Martin narrated the whole thing, naming all the formations and telling Douglas fun facts that he wasn’t really paying attention to. They’d seen plenty of air shows before, and only Martin could be so excited every time.


	5. Echo

As he often did, Douglas was humming to himself, some fragment of a tune that had been stuck in his head since he’d woken up. He wasn’t even really aware that he’d started humming out loud until Herc started humming it too.

“I didn’t know the flight deck echoed.” Douglas said with a huff.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that only you were allowed to hum.”

“At least hum in tune if you’re going to.” Herc raised his eyebrows to Douglas’ smug grin, and that was how Arthur with coffee, ten minutes later found them trying to out-sing one another.


	6. Foxtrot

Dancing was not one of Martin’s talents. At any party he and Theresa went to, he got so worked up at the idea of stepping on her feet and ruining everything that he forgot how to move and felt like an idiot.

Theresa took it upon herself to at least teach him some basic steps for next time. She spent some time in a living room with a CD player making him practice, just the two of them until he could twirl her around with a little more skill than before. And beside that, she loved just being with him.


	7. Golf

How Arthur had managed to convince them to play crazy golf was anyone’s guess. Douglas, of course, had three hole-in-one’s in a row, much to Martin’s distaste. But the biggest surprise was that Arthur had been right, and that crazy golf was in fact one of his top talents. Or possibly his only talent.

Still, they had to congratulate him at the final hole when not only did he hit the ball through the windmill to a spectacular hole in one, but won the game, beating Douglas by 12 points. Carolyn was proud to see him flaunting victory all week.


	8. Hotel

For once, Carolyn hadn’t booked them into an awful hotel. Douglas couldn’t decide if this was because she felt the impending doom of Martin leaving too, or if it was because Herc was with them and she wanted to hide the exact nature of how little money she had. But then, he supposed that she’d never had a problem booking cheaply before, so it shouldn’t be different just because her boyfriend was there too.

Douglas ignored Herc as they flew over the countryside and let his thoughts drift Martin’s interview and hoped with all his heart it was going well.


	9. India

Martin was slightly starting to regret agreeing to go to the King of Sweden’s birthday on seeing all the other royals around him. He felt totally out of place, even in his uniform, aware that everyone else was wearing fine clothes and had never known real life. His heart was racing and he was about ready to flee when Theresa tapped his arm and smiled warmly at him. Though she was wearing a dress, she too looked underdressed, and suddenly Martin was filled with more confidence as she took his arm and led him into the palace for the party.


	10. Juliet

“Arthur was telling me that you considered calling him Christopher if he wasn’t called Arthur.” Carolyn narrowed her eyes at Herc suspiciously.

“And you’re telling me why?”

Herc shrugged. “If find it interesting. I’d have been Daedalus or some other nonsense. Still after the aircraft, of course. I couldn’t escape that if I tried.”

This was an obvious ploy, and yet Carolyn couldn’t help but laugh at Herc’s misfortune with names. “Juliet.” she said after a long pause, which made Herc smile as he imagined Carolyn having the name of one of the most famous lovers ever written. Simply ridiculous.


	11. Kilo

“Douglas, can I ask something?” Douglas lowered his paper to see Arthur beaming at him in the way he did when he had an Arthur scheme.

“Go on.”

“What’s heavier - a kilogram of bricks or a kilogram of feathers?”

Douglas chuckled. Arthur had no doubt spent ages thinking of this cunning plan to trick him. “Hmm, well let me think. Could they both be the same?”

Arthur’s face dropped as he realised that he hadn’t caught Douglas out, and Douglas almost thought he’d upset him before Arthur said “But I nearly got you, right?”

“Yes, Arthur, of course you did.”


	12. Lima

“Herc, what the hell are these doing in my kitchen?” Carolyn glared at the beans sitting next to some leeks and asparagus. Herc grinned and kept chopping some other nondescript leaves.

“Those are called lima beans, and I’m making a risotto. They happen to be delicious, and you will like it.”

“Only if you’re going to put chicken in it.” Carolyn huffed and tried her hardest to look absolutely furious at the idea of eating vegetarian food when both of them knew perfectly well that Herc was an excellent cook and that she secretly did enjoy anything that he made.


	13. Mike

“If you’re just pulling my leg, Douglas, then-”

“No, I absolutely promise. Michael Birling. That’s his name.” How Douglas had gotten hold of this information, Martin had no idea. At this point he’d begun to think Birling didn’t even have a first name, let alone it be something as normal as Michael. Arthur seemed baffled too.

“Wow, brilliant. I didn’t know that was his name. Do you think I should use it next Birling day?”

“No!” Both Martin and Douglas spoke at the same time, with a degree of horror. That would be a terrible idea and they knew it.


	14. November

The weather always turned in November, becoming damp and cold and grey. Snoopadoop hated going out in the winter, much to Carolyn’s frustration. This was her favourite time of year, having to put on coats and scarves and getting to snipe at Herc for being a wimp when it came to the cold weather.

She loved walks along the frosty footpaths with the sky crisp blue and how Snoopadoop stayed closer than usual in hope of going home sooner. And she loved it even more when Herc was there to walk alongside her, his nose bright red and smile warm.


	15. Oscar

There were several topics that Martin absolutely refused to bring up on the flight deck because he knew exactly how Douglas would react to them, and go on and on and on. Film awards was one of them, so he dreaded the season for it because he knew there’d be no avoiding Douglas’ self-righteous opinions of it. 

It seemed like he had an opinion for every single category there was, and Martin was always left wondering just how Douglas found the time to look up the nominees, let alone watch all the films that Martin had never even heard of.


	16. Papa

Martin knew he looked stupid because he was bright red and had been crying, but he really didn’t care as he cradled the tiny body in his arms. He sat on the bed next to Theresa, who was sleeping soundly - and quite rightly. He looked between his son and his wife and couldn’t help the grin that wouldn’t fade, almost making his face hurt because he was so very lucky in that moment. All thoughts of being a bad father could wait, because right now he was content to sit and dream of the planes he’d soon show his son.


	17. Quebec

“No, Arthur, we won’t see any polar bears.”

“But Skip, it’s in Canada!” For the last hour Arthur had been trying to convince Martin that there would be hundreds of polar bears in the city. Nothing Martin said could make Arthur believe that Canadians really did not keep polar bears on the streets.

“If you want to see bears, you have to go out into the country. And even then, you’d be lucky to see one.”

“But they always see polar bears in documentaries in Canada.”

Martin sighed. “Fine, alright, we’ll go to the zoo.” Arthur beamed in pure excitement.


	18. Romeo

“You’ve got to stop going out on dates with Carolyn or soon that’s what she’s going to call them too.” Herc laughed at Douglas.

“You’re kidding right? She’d never admit to that in a million years.”

Douglas grinned wickedly. “Is Romeo losing his touch over here?” Herc huffed at the suggestion, though didn’t say anything because he could sense that Douglas wasn’t finished milking the joke. “Sorry, I forgot you were the most romantic man on Earth. And besides, at least Romeo had a sensible name.”

Herc rolled his eyes, but reluctantly he had to admit that Douglas was right.


	19. Sierra

“Tiffy’s taking Sierra out to dressage next weekend, and she’s said I can go and watch, so can I go mum?”

“Who’s Sierra?” Carolyn asked. With these pony club girls, it was hard to tell if the pretentious names belonged to the girls or to their horses. Arthur grinned.

“It’s her new pony, and she’s brown and she’s really cute! Tiffy keeps saying she’s misbehaved but honestly, it looks really good when they’re riding and I can’t tell-”

“Of course you can go, Arthur.” Carolyn said, cutting him off if only just to end the stream of information about horses.


	20. Tango

Herc was always trying to persuade Carolyn to do classes for things with him, whether to learn yoga or painting. Carolyn always turned him down, because no she absolutely did not want to learn how to do pointless activities that she’d hate. So deviously he decided to just get them lessons for a new ballroom dancing class.

“I shan’t enjoy it.” Carolyn said firmly, furious that he’d done such a stupid thing.

“Well I will.” Herc was pleased to see that he was right, and that there was the faintest of smiles on Carolyn’s face as they left the hall.


	21. Uniform

Douglas had, as ever, been right - Swiss Air had given him a much nicer hat and a uniform that actually fit. Though he was fairly sure that if he put on his old MJN uniform, it wouldn’t be quite so baggy on him now, not after all the lavish meals of Vaduz Castle.

Still, sometimes he felt that he longed for his old hat, for the heavy gold braid and the endless teasing from Douglas, for the old plane that had given him wings and the confidence to spread them, even if it meant leaving the family he’d made behind.


	22. Victor

“And that’s the squidgy one to me.” Douglas grinned as he divided up the cheese tray again while Martin frowned. “Still up to play for the crackers?”

“You could win without being smug for once, you know.”

“Nonsense! What would be the point of winning if you couldn’t be at least a little smug about it?”

“I wouldn’t know, would I?” Martin sighed.

“Don’t worry, Martin. You can have the crackers this time, and who knows, maybe you’ll win next time?” Martin chuckled at that, and in a rare moment of weakness, Douglas gave up a cheese to his captain.


	23. Whiskey

As Birling Day grew close, Douglas became ever more smug. For weeks he’d been reminding them all that this would be the sixth Birling Day in a row that he’d managed to steal the Talisker. Carolyn had ignored him totally, and Arthur had looked at him as though he was in fact some sort of low level God.

There was no point, they knew, in trying to argue that he’d not win this time, because the chance was that he would. Still, Carolyn put Martin in charge of stopping him. At the very least, they could laugh at Martin’s attempts.


	24. X-Ray

At least he wasn’t frightened of it, Carolyn supposed. Instead, Arthur was asking endless questions about the x-ray machine, and how it worked, and what it was doing. The radiologist looked impressed that he was so interested in what was happening. He later told Carolyn that he loved it when children did that, because it took their minds off the fact that their arms were broken.

How he could be optimistic at the idea of getting a cast, Carolyn would never know. She was just glad he found the thing an adventure, rather than being upset with a broken arm.


	25. Yankee

Herc was never sure if Carolyn really liked or really hated any gift that he got her, because she rolled her eyes at every single present. So when she said that the candle that supposedly smelt like the sea really smelt of ‘rotten seagull droppings’, he had no idea if she was being serious or not.

It wasn’t until later that he caught her reading one night with it on that he suspected that she didn’t hate it nearly as much as she’d said she did. He smiled to himself, pleased that his gift buying skills were up to scratch.


	26. Zulu

“Wow, Herc, look at this one!” Arthur held up his phone with a grin to show him the image he’d found.

Herc felt the blood drain from his face as he forced himself to smile despite the fear. “What type of sheep is this now Arthur?”

“A Zulu Sheep. Look at how patchy it is!” As Arthur reeled off facts about that specific breed, Herc cursed the fact that Arthur’s new thing to be interested in was, of all things, sheep. And that he cared too much about Arthur to push him away and stop pretending that he was interested.


End file.
